[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The GreatViews expressed here are not necessarily the views & opinions of ActivistChat.com. Comments are unmoderated. Abusive remarks may be deleted. ActivistChat.com retains the rights to all content/IP info in in this forum and may re-post content elsewhere.

First of all, in the words of the US President, we should not punish the Iranian people for whatever the Islamic regime of Iran is doing on the international arena. This is a nation kept under horrendous captivity that needs international sympathy rather than punishment. Secondly, plundering Iranian nation’s cultural heritage, especially by taking them from their safe public and educational holding places in museums and universities and giving them to private individuals should be consider as a crime against the cultural values of the whole civilized world.

Don't forget that Sivand Dam is to wipe out the very land in which the idea of human rights was born, and the city that embraced the first capital of ancient Persia.
Please save the city and mausoleum of Cyrus the Great by acting NOW!

This file is submitted by http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=67 to increase public awareness. Activistchat believes The Islamist Invaders and occupiers of Iran have embarked on the final stages of a dam construction in the south of Iran. This will ultimately flood and ruin the archaeological sites of Pasargad and Persepolis, the ancient capitals of the Achaemenian Empire. A rich and complex site, it has been considered by all writers of antiquity as one of the wonders of the ancient world and thus a part of the cultural heritage of the human race. Remembering the tragic destruction of the two Buddha statues in Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2001, this current unimaginable betrayal will not only eradicate the cultural origins of the Iranian people but threatens to wipe-out an irreplaceable part of human history. The magnificent archaeological remains at Pasargad and Persepolis are a testament to the industriousness and grandeur of the ancient Persians. However, their loss is not only confined to Iran and her people. These sites serve as an important historical record about our collective past and the beginnings of civilization with many stories and facts yet to be revealed through further study. Thus, it is not only Iranians that would be deprived of the most important part of their cultural identity but it is the world history itself that is in peril. Among the sites to be wiped off the face of the earth in the long run lies the tomb of Cyrus the Great, the Achaemenian king and father of the first “Declaration of Human Rights”. Two thousand five hundred years ago his unification of political systems brought freedom to all the nations that lived under his rule. In fact, he is considered as the first leader in history who advocated for the rights of people to freely choose and practice their own religious, cultural and philosophical ideologies. A replica of the cylinder of his declaration is now exhibited in the UN building to symbolize the long efforts of our people to depart from savagery and embrace a more civilized world. The tomb of this great man has been recognized and registered by UNESCO as a holly shrine to humanity.

Archeological excavations in south of Persepolis led to the discovery of residential units belonging to the second millennium BC.
Tehran, 16 January 2006 (CHN) -- Archeological diggings in southern Barzan in south of Persepolis which originally started with the aim of finding early Achaemenid clays, resulted in the discovery of a residence area which dates back to the second millennium BC.

How the Achaemenid dynasty came to power and took the control within its domain is still a matter of controversy. Since archeologists were unable to find any clay relics from the beginning of the Achaemenid era, the time of Cyrus and Cambyses reigns has remained a mystery.

“The famous Timuran clay, identified and categorized by an archeologist named Wanderburg, is one of the most important clays found in the area. This clay relic dates back to the Elamite to the Parthian eras and was discovered in Marvdasht near Persepolis historical site. Archeologists believe that such kind of clay was made by the local people in second millennium BC. After that, Timuran clays were not produced any longer until the Achaemenids came to power,” said Kamyar Abdi, Iranian archeologist in the United States and head of the excavation team in southern Barzan.

“Based on historical evidence, Achaemenid dynasty came to power around 550 BC in Fars, but there is no evidence on the way in which they come to power. We do not know what happened in the region between the years 800 to 550 BC which led to the stopping of the production of the prominent clay of the Elamite era and a historical standstill took place until the empowerment of the Achaemenid dynasty in the region,” added Abdi.

Based on archeological excavations in Tal e Timuran, Wanderburg studied the Timuran clays concluded that they belong to two distinct groups, namely Timuran A and Timuran B. The clays of the Elamite era are categorized in the Timuran A, and the characteristics of the clays unearthed in Central Plateau and places such as Gudin Tepe and Hasan Lu belong to the Timuran B group. Wanderburg carried out some excavations in the north of Persepolis in Jalabad area and discovered some clays there which were similar to those of the Sialk cemetery.

Considering Wanderburg’s discoveries, Abdi explained, “We believe that Timuran A clay was the prominent clay made during the Elamite era in the region. Later, between the years 800 and 550 BC, some kind of clay was imported to the area from the Central Plateau which caused changes in the forms of these clays and ultimately raised new questions. Something that has still remained a mystery is the shape of the clays of the beginning of Achaemenid era.”

According to Abdi, the discovered clays in Pasargadae historical site belong to the end of the Achaemenid dynasty, which means the time of Alexander’s attack to Persepolis, and have no relations to Cyrus’ era.

“Between the years 1967 and 1973, another archeologist, Akbar Tajvidi, unearthed some dwellings in southern Barzan. In his report Tajvidi says that after passing the sedimentary layers he was faced with a residential area in which a kind of clay was discovered which was different with those of the Achaemenid era. However, he did not give any further explanations about this clay in his report, and thus we do not have any information about the way this clay looked like. Therefore, we concluded that the sedimentary layers were the foundations of the Achaemenid castle and that the clay he had found most probably belonged to the Cyrus and Cambyses eras,” explained Abdi.

With this conception, the archeologists started excavations in southern Barzan by digging a 3 by 2 meter trench to study the area.

“The sedimentary layers Tajvidi mentioned them in his report were in fact natural sediments formed over the course of a thousand years. After removing these layers we faced the “Golbeie” clays which belong to 4000 years ago, contrary to what we had previously anticipated. Most probably these clays belong to some settlements from this period near Persepolis which have remained unknown so far. Although we discovered these clays, since they were not what we were looking for, we are going to continue our excavations to discover some clays belonging to the beginning of the Achaemenid era,” explained Abdi about the result of the excavations.

According to Abdi, Mohammad Taqi Atayi from archeological research center and the Parse- Pasargadae Research Center cooperate in this project.

According to the historical evidence, there used to be a city called Matezish near Persepolis historical site, from which nothing has remained. This city was a residential area during the Elamite and maybe Achaemenid eras. It is not clear yet what happened to this city after the Elamite period. However, for sure it existed during the ancient times and it might have been in located in the present-day Barzan or Firuzi cities or the perhaps the west of Persepolis.